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Philosophy Department Spring 2018 Phd Course Descriptions

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Philosophy Department Spring 2018 Phd Course Descriptions Stony Brook University | Philosophy Department Spring 2018 PhD Course Descriptions PHI 600: A Phenomenological Reading of Aristotle’s Metaphysics A. Kim Monday 2:00-5:00 Our main goals will be to understand the aim(s) of Aristotle’s Metaphysics; its method(s); and its conclusion(s). Our secondary focus will be to reflect critically on the Metaphysics and our interpretive practice from a phenomenological point of view. This may mean: using phenomenological concepts (many of which have ancient roots) as an interpretive framework; reading the text as proto- phenomenology; treating the text itself as a kind of phenomenon to be phenomenologically analyzed. Texts by Heidegger on Aristotle will be assigned in addition to the Metaphysics and standard secondary literature. Time permitting, the course will end with a detailed examination of Book Θ, along with Heidegger’s interpretation of Θ 1-3. A basic grasp of Plato and the pre-Socratics will be assumed, as well as familiarity with phenomenology. PHI 615: The Animal Elizabeth Grosz ([email protected]) Thursday 3:00-6:00 & Friday 1:00-4:00 Course Description: This course addresses the question of how the animal is thought in Western discourse and what role it plays in our understanding of the human. It focuses on the concept of the animal in key figures in patriarchal and feminist thought, and how this concept provides us with an understanding not only of the human but also what may be beyond the human, the post-human. We will look at the relevant texts of those thinkers who have made major contributions to how we understand reason and language, often considered uniquely human characteristics – including Aristotle, Descartes, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida, Deleuze and Guattari, Irigaray and Kofman; we will also explore some of the key writings of ethologists and those who elaborated the worlds of animals – including Charles Darwin, Jakob von Uexkull, Konrad Lorenz, Karl von Frisch and others. In doing so we will explore the worlds of animals and humans and the role of sexuality in the elaboration of animal life. Format: The exact structure of weekly seminars will be discussed in the first few weeks of class. But the goal will be to maximize focused student discussion while paying close attention to key texts. Assessment: For assessment, students are required to submit two pieces of course-work, the first, a short outline, proposal or plan of your essay, 2-3 pages long, due half way through the course on--- IN CLASS; and the other, a long essay which develops this proposal, 18-20 pages long (double spaced, with bibliography and footnotes) due on ------ IN CLASS. Students are encouraged, in consultation with me, to devise and research their own topics relevant to the course and its reading resources. Required Reading: All the readings are available for download from SAKAI. Recommended Additional Readings: Giorgio Agamben The Open Toby Appel The Cuvier-Geoffroy Debate: French Biology in the Decades before Darwin. Brett Buchanan Onto-Ethologies. The Animal Environments of Uexküll, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze Matthew Calarco and Peter Atterton (eds) Animal Philosophy Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species Charles Darwin The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Gilles Deleuze and F Guattari A Thousand Plateaus Jacques Derrida The Animal that Therefore I am Deborah Gordon Ants at Work Elizabeth Grosz Chaos, Territory, Art Martin Heidegger The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics Lice Irigaray Sexes and Genealogies Luce Irigaray Thinking the Difference Sarah Kofman The Enigma of Woman Leonard Lawlor This is Not Sufficient. An Essay on Animality and Human Nature in Derrida Timothy Lenoir The Strategy of Life. Teleology and Mechanics in Nineteenth Century German Biology Konrad Lorenz On Aggression Maurice Merleau-Ponty Nature Friedrich Nietzsche Thus Spoke Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche The Will to Power Semiotica (Special Issue of the Journal on Uexküll), 134,1/4, 2001 Irene Pepperberg Alex and Me Irene Pepperberg The Alex Papers Below is a list of topics for seminars. Some classes will take more than one week. Please note that all materials under “Reading” are available for download from----. Many of the texts under “Additional Reading” are longer pieces, not easily photocopied. They are suggestions for further reading that may also be useful for your essay. Topic 1. Introduction. Animals from the Ancient Greeks to the Rise of Modern Philosophy Reading: Aristotle excerpts from The History of Animals/ The Parts of Animals Rene Descartes excerpts from Chapter 5 The Discourse on Method Hans Jonas “Philosophical Aspects of Darwinism” from The Phenomenon of Life Topic 2. The Origins of the Scientific Study of Animals: from Linnaeus to Geoffroy Reading: No set reading Additional Reading: Timothy Lenoir The Strategy of Life. Teleology and Mechanics in Nineteenth Century German Biology Toby Appel The Cuvier-Geoffroy Debate: French Biology in the Decades before Darwin. Topic 3: Darwin and the Diversity of Animal Species Reading: Charles Darwin “The Struggle for Existence” (Excerpts from The Origin of Species) eds T Glick and D Cohen Additional Reading: Charles Darwin The Origin of Species Topic 4: Sexual Selection Reading: Charles Darwin Excerpts from “Selection in Relation to Sex” eds T Glick and D Cohen Additional Reading: Charles Darwin The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Topic 4: Nietzsche and the Animal Reading: Friedrich Nietzsche “O My Animals” in Animal Philosophy eds P. Atterton and M Calarco Alphonso Lingis “Nietzsche and Animals” Animal Philosophy ibid. Additional Reading: Nietzsche Thus Spoke Zarathustra Martin Heidegger “Who is Nietzsche’s Zarathustra?” Nietzsche Vols.1 & 2 Vanessa Lemm Nietzsche’s Animal Philosophy Topic 5: Uexküll and the World of Animals Reading: Jakob von Uexküll “A Stroll through the Worlds of Animals and Men” “The New Concept of Umwelt: A Link Between Science and the Humanities” Semiotica 134,1/4 “An Introduction to Umwelt”, ibid. Additional Reading: Giorgio Agamben “Umwelt” and “Tick” from The Open Brett Buchanan Onto-Ethologies. The Animal Environments of Uexküll, Heidegger, Merleau- Ponty and Deleuze Semiotica (Special Issue of the Journal on Uexküll), 134,1/4, 2001 Topic 6: Ethology: Birds, Bees and Ants Reading: Karl von Frisch “The Bee’s Mental Capacity” The Dancing Bees “The Language of Bees” Bees, Their Vision, Chemical Senses and Language Deborah Gordon “In the Society of Ants” Ants at Work Irene Pepperberg “In Search of King Solomon’s Ring” The Alex Studies Donald Griffin “A Parrot Who Means What He Says” Animal Minds Additional Reading: Irene Pepperberg Alex and Me Irene Pepperberg The Alex Papers Konrad Lorenz On Aggression Topic 7: Phenomenology: Heidegger/ Levinas/ Merleau-Ponty Reading: Martin Heidegger “Beginning of the Metaphysical Questioning…”, Chs 2-4 The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics Heidegger “Two Essential Steps in Biology…” ibid Emmanuel Levinas “The Paradox of Morality” The Provocation of Levinas eds R Bernasconi and D Wood. Levinas “The Name of a Dog; or Natural Rights” Animal Philosophy eds P Atterton and M Calarco Maurice Merleau-Ponty “Animality: The Study of Animal Behavior” Nature. Course Notes from the Collège de France Additional Reading: Jacques Derrida “I Don’t Know Why We Are Doing This’ The Animal that Therefore I Am Derrida “But for me, who am I?”. pp, 105-118 ibid. Topic 8: Derrida, Deconstruction and the Animal Reading: Jacques Derrida “Violence Against Animals” For What Tomorrow…A Dialogue. Jacques Derrida and Elisabeth Roudinesco Derrida “The Animal That Therefore I am (More to Follow),Critical Inquiry, Winter 2002, 28: 2. Additional Reading: Jacques Derrida The Animal That Therefore I am Derrida ““Eating Well” or The Calculation of the Subject” Points. Interviews 1974-1994 Leonard Lawlor This is Not Sufficient. An Essay on Animality and Human Nature in Derrida Topic 9: Deleuze and Guattari and Becoming-Animal Reading: Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari ““Becoming-Intense, Becoming- Animal, Becoming-Imperceptible…” A Thousand Plateaus Deleuze and Guattari “Of the Refrain” ibid Additional Reading: Deleuze “Spinoza and Us”, Spinoza. Practical Philosophy Elizabeth Grosz Chaos, Territory, Art Topic 10: Women, Animals and Others… Reading: Luce Irigaray “A Chance to Live” Thinking the Difference Irigaray “Animal Compassion” Animal Philosophy eds.M. Calarco and P Atterton Sarah Kofman “The Narcissistic Woman: Freud and Girard” Diacritics September,1980 Additional Reading: Irigaray “Human Nature is Always Two” I Love to You Irigaray “Divine Love” Sexes a PHI 630: Critical Phenomenology Anne O’Byrne Monday 6:00-9:00 Phenomenology is a practice of rigorous description, and it has produced radical re-descriptions of the world and reshaped our understanding of phenomenon, logos and world. Yet can it be a critical practice? Can it generate norms, or strategies, or motivation for action? Or has it been critical all along? This seminar will pursue these questions along two paths. 1) We will study examples of critical phenomenology by thinkers such as Arendt, Jonas and contemporary self-described critical phenomenologists such as Lisa Guenther, Alia Al-Saji, and Matthias Fritsch. 2) We will also turn to reflections on the phenomenological method selected from the history of phenomenology, including the work of Husserl, Scheler, Stein, and Heidegger. On both paths, we will concentrate on moments when the authors address questions of method and critique. PHI 631: Seminar in Analytic Philosophy Jeff Edwards Tuesday 6:00-9:00 (1) We begin this seminar on ethical theory by (briefly) clarifying some features of the historical backdrop to contemporary analytic ethics: sentimentalist and rationalist (or intuitional) approaches to the foundations of ethics; and Henry Sidgwick’s intuitionally grounded utilitarianism. (2) We consider some key components of the seminal work of 20th century analytic ethics, namely, G. E. Moore’s Principia Ethica (Cambridge). (3) We then consider W. D. Ross’s The Right and the Good (Oxford), paying special attention to the arguments against Moore’s “ideal utilitarianism” that Ross presented from the standpoint of his intuitionist deontology.
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